Flexible ironing device



JE 11, 194*. 5 J4 MlLLER 2,204,996

FLEXIBLE IRONING DEVICE Filed NOV. 15, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet l A TORNEY5 Patented June 18, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 9 Claims.

This invention relates to an ironing device particularly for ironing the brims of felt hats, although it is not limited to such use, and has for an object to provide a construction whereby the entire surface of the brim of a hat may be ironed at one operation or one revolution of a block supporting a hat.

It is also an object to provide a device in which the ironing surfaces will automatically adjust themselves to variations in the surface being ironed so that all parts of this surface will be uniformly and similarly ironed.

With the foregoing and other objects in view I have devised a construction illustrated in the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification. It is however to be understood that various changes and modifications may be employed within the scope of the invention.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the upper portion of a hat brim ironing machine showing the hat in position to be blocked and my improved device in position for ironing the brim, the mechanism for rotating the block beingomitted;

Fig. 2 is an elevation of the ironing device looking from the left of Fig. 1 and downwardly at an angle of about 45.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the lower portion of the ironing device on an enlarged scale and in the ironing position for ironing a hat brim, a section of the hat supporting block being shown;

Fig. 4 is a detailed section of the mounting means for one end of the ironing element;

Fig. 5 is a detailed section of the means for mounting the other end of the element;

Fig. 6 is a detailed side view of one of the ironing elements with a portion broken away to more clearly show the construction taken substantially on line 6-6 of Fig. 5; and

Fig. 7 is an elevational view looking toward the series of ironing elements.

For the purpose of illustration I have shown this improved ironing device as applied to the ironing of a felt hat brim, but it is to be understood this improvement is not limited to such use but may be adapted for ironing various other articles.

In the illustration the device is shown applied to a hat brim ironing machine comp-rising a supporting means ID for the block H on which the hat is supported during the ironing opera, tion. The support It] and the block are rotated about a vertical axis as indicated by the arrow during the ironing operation by any suitable mechanism, not shown. The block ,H is .the'

standard substantial annular wooden block to support the hat in an inverted position with its crown 12 extending downwardly through the opening in the block and with its brim l3 resting on the upper and outer side of the block surface 5';

I4, and it is held thereon by the covering cloth [5 clamped in position by a suitable cord I6 as in the usual manner, the cloth. being usually moistened for the ironing operation.

At the present time a common way of ironing this brim is by a single flat iron which is fed .laterally from the inner to the outer side of the brim as the block rotates. With this device a large number of revolutions of the hat and block are required and only a small portion of the brim is ironed at one time, requiring considerable time for the ironing operation and the liability of uneven ironing of the brim.

With the present device I have provided a plurality of relatively small ironing elements so arranged as to contact the full width of the brim during the ironing operation so that the brim is ironed with one complete revolution of the block, and these individual ironing elements are so mounted that they may yield outwardly under 1 pressure from the surface being ironed independently of each other so that they may adjust themselves to variations and irregularities in the surface being ironed so as to uniformly iron' the entire surface.

This device comprises a metal body member ll having a series of guideways for mounting a plurality of ironing elements. Each of these elements comprises a fiat or rectangular bar 18 carrying at one end an ironing head l9 each of which has an ironing surface 20. The bar i8 is mounted to slide in the body member ll in a direction at substantially right angles to the surface being ironed, and if this is a curved surface, as in the illustration, then these bars are mounted at various angles to each other as indicated. This body comprises a member 2! havme one side open for finishing operations and for insertion of the bars [8 and which is then closed by a second member 22 secured to the first member by any suitable means such as screws 23, and this retains, the bars 18 in their guides in the member 2|. The side wall of the member 2| is provided with notches 24 opposite each bar into which a laterally extending lug 25 on. the bar extends. This lug is of shorter length than the notch 24 thus permitting limited movement of the bar !8. The outer curved side of these body members is closed by a member 26 secured to the member 2! by any suitable means such as screws 21. This member 26 carries cylindrical projections 28 in alignment with the bars i 3 and closed at their outer ends. Mounted to slide in each of these projections is a plunger 29 engaging the outer end of the corresponding bar l8, and a coil spring 30 in the projection acts on the plunger 29 tending to force it inwardly against the bar l8 and therefore tends to hold this bar at its furtherest position toward the article to be ironed, this movement being limited by the engagement of the lug 25 against the shoulder 3| at the inner side of the notch 2d. The spring 30 permits the bar [8 and its corresponding ironing head I!) to move outwardly under pressure on this head from the surface being ironed, this outward movement being limited by the shoulder 32 on the lug 25 engaging the shoulder 33 at the other end of the recess 24.

Any number of the ironing elements may be employed depending on the shape and size of the surfaces to be ironed. In the present case as shown in Figs. 5 and '7 there are two rows of these elements arranged side by side although a greater number of rows may be employed and more or less individual elements in the rows. It will be seen that the elements are so arranged that the heads 19 of one row are opposite the joint or separation between two adjacent heads of the next row, that is they are arranged in staggered relation so that the heads of one row overlap two adjacent heads of the next row. This is so that during the ironing operation the line of division 3 between adjacent heads of the two rows are not in alignment to leave possibility of an unironed line on the surface being ironed, but there is an ironing surface opposite each division so that all portions of the article surface being ironed comes in contact with an ironing surface 25 of the ironing elements.

In addition to 'each of the heads i9 being mounted to yield outwardly on pressure from the surface being ironed against the action of the individual springs 36 the heads l9 are also pivoted to the ends of their respective bars l8. This is shown in Figs. 5 and 6 in which the head if! is shown as being forked or of substantially LJ-shape to receive the projecting end 35 of the supporting bar it) and to which the head is pivoted by a cross pin 36 allowing the head to rock on this pivot, as shown in Fig. 6, so as to properly seat on the surface being ironed, suitable clearance being allowed as shown at 3? to permit this limited rocking movement.

This entire device includ ng the body ll and the ironing elements are also mounted on the machine for a substantially universal movement so that it can turn in all directions as the hat or other element being ironed moves under the ironing heads l9. Thus as shown more clearly in Fig. 2 a bracket 38 is secured to one side of the body member H by any suitable means such as screws 39 and carries a pivot bearing 2D at its upper end mounted in a housing on an arm 42 pivoted by a shaft 33 in suitable bearings 44 on an arm 45. This arm 45 is pivoted at All to a stationary bracket or standard A? mounted on the bed or frame 48 of the machine. The axis of the shaft 63 is substantially at right angles to the aXis of the bearing lil to permit the ironing device to turn in planes at substantially right angles to each other for substantially universal movement to permit the device to accommodate these ironing surfaces 20 to variations in the surface being ironed. The arm 45 by swinging about the pivot 46 permits the device to be moved toward and from the article to be ironed, and the device is held against the surface being ironed by a spring 49 connected at one end to a suitable stationary support, such as the standard 41, through the element 50 and at its other end connected to the arm 45. In this case it is connected to an adjusting screw 5| so that the tension of the spring may be adjusted to determine the proper pressure of the ironing head against the article being ironed.

Electrical heating elements are provided for heating the ironing head l9. In this case the side Walls of the body member I! are provided with housings 52 closely adjacent and at the side of the heads 19, and each is adapted to receive an electrical heating element 53 connected by the leads 54 to any suitable source of current, not

shown. In the present case one housing as 52a is formed in a separate member 58 secured to member 2| by screws 59 and 68 but the housing could be formed in wall 21. The heat from these elements is conducted by the metal walls of the body to the heads l9.

Generally in ironing a hat brim it is given a more rounded and shorter curve at the rear of the hat than at the front. In Fig. l the ironing device is shown as ironing the front portion of the hat brim while Fig. 3 shows it ironing the rear portion of the hat brim, and it will be seen from Fig. 1 that the curve of the surface [4 of the block is somewhat flatter than the curve 56 of the same surface as shown in Fig. 3. These changes in the surface, however, are automatically accommodated by the universal mounting of the device and the independent mounting of the individual ironing heads l9 so that they may roci: about the pivots 36 and may yield backwardly and outwardly under a given pressure from the surface of the article being ironed. It will therefore be seen they contact all surfaces of the article with substantially uniform pressure, but automatically adjust themselves to the proper position to accommodate variations in this surface, thus giving a uniform even ironing throughout the entire surface. In the case of a hat brim, which is shown by way of example, it will be seen that the entire brim will be ironed by one revolution of the supporting block ii and that all surfaces of this curved brim will be evenly and smoothly ironed. It is also preferred to round over somewhat the forward edge of the ironing heads [9 as indicated at 5'! in Fig. 5 to facilitate movement of these heads over the article being ironed and to prevent their digg ng in or injuring the surface. It will be understood that for flat surfaces the ironing elements, instead of being mounted so that their ironing surfaces 20 normally together form a curved surface as in the illustration, will normally be in a substantially flat or plane surface.

Having thus set forth the nature of my invention, what I claim is:

1. An ironing device comprising a body memher, a plurality of ironing elements mounted in said body member to simultaneously engage a surface to be ironed, a separate mounting for each element permitting them to yield individually independent of each other under pressure from said surface, separate resilient means for each element tending to advance the respective elements to hold them against the surface, and means for heating said elements.

2. An ironing device comprising a body member, a plurality of separate ironing elements mounted in said body member each comprising v an independent supporting member and an ironing head pivoted to the supporting member so as to adjust itself to a surface to be ironed, said heads each having an ironing surface and arranged with said surfaces normally forming a substantially continuous surface, means for mounting said supporting members independently of each other to permit the heads to move individually independently of each other toward and from an article to be ironed, separate spring means for each member tending to move said members to the normal position, and means for heating said heads.

3. An ironing device comprising a body member, a plurality of ironing elements mounted in said body member adapted to simultaneously engage a surface to be ironed, a separate mounting for each element permitting them to yield independently of each other from pressure from said surface, said elements being arranged in a plurality of rows side by side with the elements of each row overlapping two adjacent elements of the next row, separate spring means for each element tending to advance the respective elements to hold them against the surface, and means for heating said elements.

4. An ironing device comprising a body member, a plurality of ironing elements each com prising a bar mounted for sliding movement in said body at different angles to each other, an ironing head pivoted to each bar so as to adjust itself to variations in a surface to be ironed, spring means tending to advance said bars to a given position and arranged to permit the bars to yield upon a given pressure on said heads from the surface being ironed, and means for heating said heads.

5. An ironing device comprising a body member, a plurality of ironing elements each comprising a bar mounted for sliding movement in said body at different angles to each other and an ironing head on said bar, said elements being arranged with the heads in a plurality of rows with the heads in one row overlapping two adjacent heads of the next row, spring means tending to advance said bars to a given position and arranged to permit the bars to yield upon a given pressure on said heads from the surface being ironed, means for heating said heads, and means for mounting the body member to swing on axes arranged at substantially right angles to each other to accommodate the device to the surface being ironed.

6. An ironing device comprising a body memher, a plurality of ironing elements mounted in said body member each comprising a supporting member and an ironing head pivoted to the supporting member so as to adjust itself to a surface to be ironed, said heads being arranged in a plurality of rows with the heads in each row overlapping two adjacent heads in the next row, means for mounting said supporting members to permit the heads to move toward and from an article to be ironed, spring means tending to move said members to normal position, means for heating the heads, and means for mounting said de vice to swing on axes at substantially right angles to each other to accommodate the device to the surface being ironed.

'7. An ironing device comprising a substantially annular rotatable block to support a hat on its brim, a body member mounted to pivot in different planes, a plurality of ironing elements carried by said body member in position to iron said brim as the block rotates, a separate mounting for each of the respective elements permitting them to yield outwardly independently of each other under a given pressure from the block, a separate spring for each element tending to move the elements inwardly toward the block, and means for heating the elements.

8. An ironing device comprising a substantially annular rotatable block to support a hat with its brim on the block, means for ironing said brim as the block rotates-comprising a plurality of individual ironing heads arranged adjacent each other and having ironing surfaces to simultaneously iron the brim, a separate mounting for each head, separate resilient means for each head tending to press said heads against the brim and adapted to permit the individual heads to yield independently of the other heads so as to follow the contour of the block, and means for heating the heads.

9. An ironing device comprising a body member, a plurality of ironing elements each comprising a bar mountedfor sliding movement in said body at different angles to each other and an ironing head on said bar, said elements being arranged with the heads in a plurality of rows with the heads in one row overlapping two adjacent heads of the next row, spring means tending to advance said bars to a given position and arranged to permit the bars to yield upon a given pressure on said heads from the surface being ironed, and means for heating said heads.

STEPHEN J. LMLLER. 

